Washington, DC — Priority System Planning

February 2014

The District of Columbia Department of Transportation [dDOT] expects to launch streetcar service this year on H Street-Benning Road and in conjunction with future streetcar development, is searching for a firm to provide "Integrated Premium Transit." This essentially means picking a company for a DBOM (design, build, operate, maintain) contract for a 22-mile priority rail system that will required 62 streetcars and also include DC Metro buses within the district and an urban bus circulator, the Washington City Paper site reports.

The largest responsibility of the firm selected will be to expand and operate the streetcar network, consisting of a 22-mile priority network—the H Street line, named the "One City Line," which will reach Georgetown and also cross the Anacostia River, as well as future lines connecting Anacostia to the Southwest Waterfront and Buzzard Point to Takoma, possibly followed by a 15-mile addition to bring the network to the long-term plan of 37 miles.

The company will build tracks, provide streetcars (as many as 62 for the priority network), and create maintenance facilities.

Another task assigned to the winner is to take over responsibility for dDOT's circulator buses and MetroBuses that run entirely inside the District.

The hope is that the DBOM approach will speed development of the system and hold down costs.